The public gathered in the Richard B. Russell Jr. Special Collections Libraries Building for the induction of Valerie Boyd to the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame on Thursday evening.
Faculty, students and writers filled the seats, many affiliated with Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the University of Georgia Press, the event’s co-sponsors. Boyd’s brother, Timothy Boyd, was also in attendance.
Boyd died on Feb. 12, after teaching writing at the University of Georgia for 18 years. She is best known for authoring the biography, “Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston,” published in 2003. She won the Southern Book Award for best nonfiction of the year, the American Library Association’s Notable Book Award and the Georgia Author of the Year Award in nonfiction, among other accolades.
Papers describe Valerie Boyd's book, “Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic,” at the author’s induction ceremony into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame on Sept. 22. (Photo/Lilly Kersh)
“Every time I saw Valerie, she was doing some sort of work to amplify the voices of, especially, Black writers, and other writers of color,” Lisa Bayer, director of the UGA Press, said. Bayer, a judge on the board that reviews nominations, worked with Boyd and gave her introduction at the event on Thursday.
Timothy Boyd accepted the award in her honor. He summarized his sister’s mission with the acronym BIRDS — Bring Inspiration, Revelation and Demonstration to every Situation.
A panel discussion, Q&A and reception followed the presentation of the award.
The discussion, moderated by writer, artist and educator Shay Youngblood, explored Boyd’s life, legacy and impact on Black writers. In addition to Youngblood, the panel included four other Black women, all esteemed writers: Rosalind Bentley, Karen Good Marable, Latria Graham and Tayari Jones.
The authors discussed Boyd’s last work, “Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic,” which will be published posthumously this November.
“She was going to keep opening doors … making sure she was going to open doors for Black women … all the way to the end, that is exactly what she did,” Bentley said in the discussion. “She did for me.”
Students, faculty and library staff socialize in the UGA Special Collections Library building following Valerie Boyd’s induction into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame on Sept. 22. (Photo/Lilly Kersh)
Senior English majors Paris Whitney and Trudi Sundberg attended the event and are interns at The Georgia Review.
“I was really inspired by the presence of Black women writers on the panel, especially because I'm a Black woman writer,” Whitney said. “To hear them all talk about their experiences and how they've been guided by Valerie Boyd was honestly really eye opening, and it really kind of changed my perspective about the writing industry.”
Boyd was a Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer in Residence in 2007 and served as the director of Giving Voice to the Voiceless, a grant program created by Hunter-Gault and her husband. She created a narrative nonfiction Master of Fine Arts program at UGA which was the only such program in the country housed in a journalism, not an English department.
“It was really interesting … hearing about the ways that she's advocated for Black women and writers,” Sundberg said. “It’s really inspiring. I’m glad that that’s happening here at UGA.”
UGA’s Georgia Writers Hall of Fame “recognizes Georgia writers, past and present, whose work reflects the character of the state — its land and people,” according to its website. Eligible writers are either from Georgia or produced a significant work of writing in the state. The Hall of Fame is organized and hosted by the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Panelists pose at the induction ceremony of Valerie Boyd into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame on Sept. 22. (Photo/Lilly Kersh)
Public nominations are reviewed by a board of judges appointed by the UGA Librarian.
There are 76 honorees total, and the list includes Margaret Mitchell, John Lewis, Alice Walker, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Flannery O'Connor. There are two other authors in Boyd’s induction class: Sue Monk Kidd, author of “The Secret Life of Bees,“ and poet Thomas Lux, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Boyd’s nomination was voted on and approved in fall 2021, before the author’s death. Although she knew she had been voted into the Hall of Fame, she died before the ceremony could be held.
In addition to “Bigger Than Bravery,” Boyd’s book “Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker” was published posthumously in April of this year. It is a curated compilation of the journals of Walker, author of “The Color Purple.”
